A Midwinter Story
by LADIESofJESSLAWandQUEENSCOVE
Summary: Lord Wyldon decides that the pages need to learn poise and coordination... in dance class. Guaranteed to at least put a smile on your face, if not have you rolling on the floor. Merry Midwinter! Please R and R.
1. Humiliated

**AN: **(By lelaofbast, the sane sister): I got this idea while listening to "The Nutcracker" a few months ago. I was working on one of my other stories and all of a sudden I had a really crazy picture in my head. I'd tell you what it was, but then you wouldn't have to read. Don't worry, Kel gets the same picture.

To set the tone a little, I will say that _the italicized portion of the story is set in year 475. (Kel was knighted in 459, so she is about 32 now.) _The part that is not italicized is 453. Owen is a first-year, Kel and Neal are seconds, and Joren, Cleon, and Roald are fourth-years.

Okay, tone, set. There was one more thing I needed to do… oh!

**Disclaimer:** Don't want to forget that. We can't afford to be sued. I mean, all we really have is our dog, but he thinks he's a cat and he talks back. But to be one the safe side, I am admitting that we don't own any of the characters, settings, or plot points that you may recognize from Tamora Pierce's books.

Okay, now my list is complete. I'm making my sister do the AN next time. Poor readers…

Please read and review.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****A Midwinter Story  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****By the  
****LADIESofQUEENSCOVEandJESSLAW:  
**lelaofbast  
**And  
**trollseatfish  
**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****Chapter One: Humiliated  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****_Midwinter Present  
_**_**475  
**_**Midwinter Past  
****453  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_Midwinter._

_A time for families to be together, loving and caring. There were still huge balls, with hundreds of nobles in attendance, but the small parties, started by Lord Raoul, were growing in number. This year, on the third night, the pages were given time off to spend with their families. One of these small parties brought the children of our favorite Tortallan knights to their parents._

_Elizabetha, or Bess of Masbolle was a third year. Bess was the daughter of Lady Knight Keladry, the Protector of the Small, and Domitan of Masbolle, second-in-command of the King's Own. _

_Nealan of Queenscove and his wife Yukimi had a daughter, called Norami who was a fourth-year. Nora had the tall, slender black-haired looks of her mother, but her eyes and Gift were emerald green, like her father and grandfather's._

_Pathom and Francis were the sons of Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Buriram Tourakom. Pathom, their first born, was a fourth-year page, and Francis was a second-year. Their daughter, Neva was nine, but she wanted to be a knight as well. Great-Aunt Sebila was highly upset. Raoul was thrilled._

_Merric had married Marguerite of Queenscove, Neal's sister. They had three children, but their oldest, Darrin had attended the academy. Their second child was a girl, Coletta, who was away at the convent. The last one was a boy. Ten-year-old Willis was a first-year page._

_Also in attendance was Prince Roald. His wife and kids, (excluding his fifteen-year-old son, Gareth, a squire,) had come down with a mild flu that kept them bound to bed chambers. So while Shinko was warm in bed, surrounded by their three youngest, Roald was spending a quiet evening with old friends._

_The last family at the party came from Kennan. Cleon and his wife Ermelian had five children. Their two oldest, Barton and Jozef, were squires. A daughter, Ariana, was away at the academy. They also had Huntir, a first-year page, and the baby, two-year old Zeama._

_The pages were humiliated that they had to stand and give a Midwinter recitation for the entire court on the first night. Two days later, they were still complaining._

"_It was just _so_ humiliating, Aunt Kel," Nora of Queenscove said._

"_In the history of pages, none of them has ever had to give a recitation before the whole court before," Francis of Goldenlake whined._

"_Did you hear that, Neal?" Kel asked loudly. "Their recitation was the most humiliating experience."_

"_No one has ever been quite as mortified," Merric added._

"_My big toe!" Neal remarked. _

"_So you're saying that you've been more embarrassed?" Willis of Hollyrose challenged._

"_Of course," Neal retorted. He looked between the other knights that he had trained with._

"_Dance class," they said in unison._

"_Dance class?" Pathom of Goldenlake asked. Raoul started laughing._

"_I'll never forget it. That was hilarious!" he boomed. Neal scoffed and began the story._

"_It all started when my Lord Stump Wyldon decided that we had no coordination…"_

The pages gathered into the room. They were to start a new class but they were not told exactly what it was. It was to take place three nights a week. Their excited murmurs died down as Lord Wyldon stood before them. With him was a tall, man with a dark brown moustache. He looked dignified, and just one glance at his perfect posture made all the pages sit up a little straighter. Lord Wyldon began to speak.

"Today you will begin to learn a new art. One that will teach you grace, poise, and coordination, all things that we are sorely lacking. I want you all to turn your attention to Adente of Wausau. Lord Adente is the finest dance instructor in the realm."

Whispers fluttered throughout the room, but Kel could only hear those of her group.

"Dance?" Neal asked.

"How jolly!" Owen added. Merric was next.

"There's no way in-"

"_Did you really say that?" Marguerite asked her husband._

"_Do you think that an eleven-year-old boy was happy about taking dance lessons?" Merric retorted._

"_I suppose not," Marguerite conceded. She looked back at Kel and Neal. "Tell the rest."_

"There's no way in-"

"May I will remind you that this _is_ part of your training," Lord Wyldon said, cutting Merric's voice from Kel's ears.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Lord Adente said, stepping forward.

"Good evening, Lord Adente," the pages chorused miserably.

"We will begin a study of the art of dance. Now, I know what's running through your minds. Dance is for girls." The boys mumbled their agreement. "But nevertheless, you will learn.

"Now. Tonight we will begin by learning the warm up exercises. Then I will teach you a few basic steps, and evaluate you for casting."

"Casting?" Neal piped up from his spot beside Kel. Lord Adente cleared his throat and glanced at Lord Wyldon before he answered the question.

"At the end of the class, the week before Midwinter, you will give a performance for the king and queen, various nobles, and any of your family members that can attend. Invitations have already been sent out."

Kel felt her face go pale over her Yamani mask. Her friends stiffened as a round of groans rang through the room.

"What are we performing?"

"A traditional Midwinter story," Lord Adente said. Kel noticed that he didn't seem any happier about teaching the pages dance then they did about learning it. He coughed and sent one more glance at Lord Wyldon before answering. "The Nutcracker."

"Ballet?" Merric squeaked. Immediately Kel pictured her friends dancing around in fluffy pink tutus. All the other pages were quiet, stiff and shocked by the news. In Kel's mind, Merric flew into the air and was gracefully caught by the waiting Neal. She grinned, then laughed out loud.

"Does something amuse you, Page Keladry?" Lord Wyldon said. Kel stood to address the training master, slipping her Yamani mask back on. It was now turning crimson.

"No Sir. I was just thinking that we will have to practice. A lot."

Kel's statement proved to be truer than she had ever imagined. A few minutes after she was singled out, the pages were told to stand in three lines of seven. Neal nudged Kel, showing her that during this commotion, Lord Wyldon had slipped out, probably off to his rooms. He didn't have to endure an hour and a half of ballet lessons three times a week. Lord Adente hung up a diagram that showed them how to position their feet.

"The basis of ballet technique is the turned-out position of the legs and feet: Each leg is rotated outward from the hip joint so that the feet form a one-hundred-and-eighty degree angle on the floor. This turned-out position is not unique to ballet; it is used also in many foreign dance forms, including bharata natyam, a classic dance of the Bazhir." As Lord Adente spoke, he walked along the lines of pages and corrected their footing.

Kel smiled at Merric, who stood beside her.

"It's not that bad." He scowled.

"Yet," Neal murmured from her other side.


	2. Casted

**AN: **(By lelaofbast): Well, I'm tired of waiting for my sister to do this AN. The story must be posted while people are in the Christmas mood. Thanks for reading our first chapter. I hope you enjoy the next. Oh, and kudos to you if you can guess Neal's role…

**Review Returns**: **Nativewildmage-** We're glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing. **Wildace Keladry2005-** Thanks for R & R ing. **Mage of Dragons-** I haven't ever had dance class at school, but when I was 3 I took ballet lessons. Now I'm clumsy. Every time I trip UP the stairs (all 4 of them) my mom tells me that those ballet lessons really paid off… Thanks for you review. **Imakeladrygirl-** Well it would have been up sooner if SOMEONE had written her AN! Thanks for reading. **Kelly Masbolle-** I'm glad we amused you. As for your questions- I think that I was going with Kel's daughter being 12- since she's a third-year. Since my birthday is in August, I was close to the cut-off, and I was always the youngest in my class. So Bess is just a young third-year. (And I think that Kel was 19 in the end of LK. I may be wrong, though.) And you are right; there are a lot of pages and squires. Oh well, the realm will get some REALLY GREAT knights now. Descended from the best. It will be a legacy of majestic knights not seen since the Lioness and Giantkiller. Okay now I'm babbling. Thanks for R and R ing.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****A Midwinter Story  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****By the  
****LADIESofQUEENSCOVEandJESSLAW:  
**lelaofbast  
**And  
**trollseatfish  
**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****Chapter Two: Casted  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****_Midwinter Present  
_**_**475**__**  
**_**Midwinter Past  
****453  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_The story was interrupted by the arrival of Owen. Sir Owen of Jesslaw had married a lady called Clayr, a former scullery maid of Cavall. They had one child, an eleven-year-old daughter, now a page, named Maira. _

_Owen filled himself a plate from the buffet table and sat down. _

"_What are we talking about?" he asked._

"_The Great Ballet of 453," Merric said disdainfully._

"_Oh, that was a jolly ole time," Owen said, popping a cheese puff into his mouth._

"_What part did you play, Mother?" Bess asked Kel._

"_Well …"_

"First of all, we need a Nutcracker Prince." Lord Adente said. It was the page's second dance lesson, and after practicing, Lord Adente began casting. "Do I have any volunteers?"

Every hand but Kel's went up. Just as most of the boys didn't want to have a girl's part, she didn't want to have a lead part.

"I should have seen that coming," Lord Adente said with a sigh. "Very well. Keladry, you will be the prince."

"Me, sir?" Kel squeaked. "Surely there's someone better. I'm clumsy. I'd have enough trouble just learning to be one of those people who dance around with a candy cane."

"Well then I suggest you get in some extra practice," the teacher said. "Now, would anyone care to be Clara?"

Kel saw Owen looking around. Then his hand shot up. Neal's hand instinctively slapped his own forehead.

"_You wanted the girl role, Da?" Maira asked. Owen nodded._

"_You gotta be kidding me!" Dom exclaimed._

"_The role of Clara required dignity, grace, and jolliness, all of which are qualities that I possess in abundance."_

_Neal and Merric picked up soft, warm rolls and lobbed them at their friend._

"_Owen made a splendid Clara," Roald said, ending the discussion. "And Lord Adente was thrilled…"_

"If you would all volunteer as eagerly as young Owen, this would be finished a lot faster, and a lot less painfully," Lord Adente said, nodding to a scribe to take down Owen's name.

While the others were cast, Owen and Kel were measured for their costumes by a crotchety old man with a long knotted cord. Slowly pages joined them.

Merric seemed semi-content with his role. He was to be the seven-headed rat king. Prince Roald was the mechanical tin soldier.

Best of all, Joren and his cronies were all made flowers of the kingdom. Their costumes would be pastel. Neal couldn't contain his laughter.

"_That only lasted until you got your own role," Kel pointed out. _

"_So," Neal retorted. Cleon spoke up._

"_Neal was the last one to be picked…"_

"Ah, Master Nealan. You seem to be the last one left," Lord Adente said with a smile that Neal would later describe as 'almost cruel.'

Neal burst into the measuring area, and stood with his arms crossed, feet shoulder-width apart.

"He has it for me, I swear it!"

"How bad could it be?" Kel asked.

"Yeah, it can't be any worse than Cleon's part," Owen added. "He's Mother Ginger. You know, the one with all the little kids under her skirt."

"That's not so bad," Teron of Blythdin, a first-year, piped up. "I'm one of those children."

"It's worse," Neal said dramatically. Kel rolled her eyes.

"What is it?"

"What's left?" Roald answered with a question and a knowing smile.


	3. Problems

**AN: **(By lelaofbast, again): Quick update. Enjoy!

**Review Returns**:

**Cry of the Wolf Child**, **Jules-Gemma**, and **Aly the Spy**: Exactly. Thanx for reviewing!

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****A Midwinter Story  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****By the  
****LADIESofQUEENSCOVEandJESSLAW:  
**lelaofbast  
**And  
**trollseatfish  
**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****Chapter Three: Problems  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****_Midwinter Present  
_**_**475  
**_**Midwinter Past  
****453  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"_The Sugar Plum Fairy?" Nora asked._

"_Yes," Neal scowled, remembering the day._

The pages all listed their parts. Kel put on her Yamani mask as she realized what part Neal had. Once again she had visions of her friends dancing in tutus.

"Oh what is it already?" Merric asked shortly.

Neal mumbled an indiscernible sentence.

"For pete's sake, Neal!" Kel exclaimed.

"I'm the Blasted Sugar-Plum Fairy!" he said. Joren couldn't have looked any more pleased if he had planned it himself.

"That's a jolly role!" Owen said.

"I'll knock that jolly right off your face!" Neal cried, lunging at him.

"_They really did look ridiculous, rolling around on the floor like that," Kel said._

"_I'm sure _he_ did," Yuki agreed, rolling her eyes. She knew Neal's over-dramatic moods all too well._

"_Well that was the end of our first lesson," Cleon said._

"_For brawling we had to spend a week of our free time designing personalized invitations for our parents," Merric added. "Between dance lessons, of course."_

"_I would have given anything to see you in tights, Meathead," Dom said with a grin._

"_It wasn't the tights that were the problem," Neal snapped. "It was that blasted tutu!"_

"_Tutu?" Kel repeated. "I think my new practice shirt caused far more problems…"_

Kel glanced in the mirror. The shirt wasn't skin-tight, but it was more form-fitting than anything she ever wore. All her practice clothes were baggy. And usually the collar of her shirt would have been buttoned up to her neck, but this shirt had no collar. It came to a 'v,' plunging a few inches under her collar bone, where she would have liked it to rest. Even so, the shirt was not revealing.

Kel sighed and pulled a wool sweater over her uniform and followed Neal down.

The pages got into line and began their warm-up exercises. Lord Adente walked down the rows to survey them. He stopped when he came to Kel.

"Mindelan, you cannot practice properly in a sweater. You won't have the freedom of movement. Remove it."

Kel blushed as she moved to the edge of the room and slipped the sweater off, draping it across a chair. Whistles rose from the boys, prompting her friends to scowl and make fists.

She looked down at the shirt and sighed.

"_I would have liked to see that too," Dom said wickedly. Kel shook her head, hiding a smile._

"_It wasn't that bad," Neal argued._

"_For you," Kel mumbled._

"_It did almost start another brawl," Cleon said. "You know our group always stuck up for Kel."_

"_I don't know about you, but frankly I didn't have the energy to brawl. You wouldn't think that ballet would be so consuming," Merric added._

"_You always had the energy to brawl," Roald said, raising his eyebrows in amusement._

"_Well the rest of you had it easy," Kel said, ducking to avoid the roll that Owen tossed at her. "You didn't have to dance so close to Clara…" _

Dancing with Owen was not much more than ducking to avoid being smacked by his flailing limbs. Kel was grateful for her good reflexes.

As time went on, the pages' agility began to improve, although none of them were any happier about having to dance. With the jolly exception of Owen, who made up for his poor dancing with enthusiasm.

As she ducked, Kel began to feel a nervous tension growing in her stomach. The night of the performance was drawing nearer.

And she was scared to death.


	4. Headaches

**AN: **(By trollseatfish): I live! Good morning, Star-shine. The earth says 'hello!' (trollseatfish takes out note cards after receiving several blank stares. First one reads "Clear throat.") A-HEM! I am a lazy ignoramus who can never write her author's notes on time… Wait. I think my sister wrote my note cards. Rewind. .sdrac eton ym etorw retsis ym kniht I .tiaW …emit no seton s'rohtua reh etirw reven nac ohw sumarongi yzal a ma I

Okay, moving right along. Hope you guys are having a holly-jolly Christmas! Please read and review! Watch out for dusty shovels.

**Review Returns**: (by lelaofbast, (I'd better do these if you want coherent sentences.)) **wildace keladry:** Glad you're enjoying it. **Confusedknight: **That's alright. Please keep reading. **Seyyada:** Thanx for pointing that out. I honestly didn't think anyone would notice, and I think I will go back and change it. **Pink Squishy Llama:** Owen's jollyness is the best! Thanks for reading. (trollseatfish: I love your pen name!) **imakeladrygirl: **Thanks. **Aly the Spy**: Thanks for R and R ing. **Mage of Dragons:** Tripping up the stairs. My life story. I didn't do so hot in ballet either. They had us up there singing "All I Want For Christmas is my Two Front Teeth. Thanks for your review. **X17SkmBdrchiczxx:** Glad you like it. Please keep reading.

**To All:** (Here is my Christmas speech:) Thank you all, and Merry Christmas!

(**trollseatfish:** That was all? It was dumb. It was terrible. It was obvious. It was short… I LOVED it.)

(Christmas speech can be found in "The Muppet Christmas Carol. We don't own that either. (The speech, not the movie. We have that on DVD.) Just thought I'd clarify. Anyways, R & R. like good little readers…)

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****A Midwinter Story  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****By the  
****LADIESofQUEENSCOVEandJESSLAW:  
**lelaofbast  
**And  
**trollseatfish  
**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****Chapter Four: Headaches  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
****_Midwinter Present  
_**_**475  
**_**Midwinter Past  
****453  
****------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"_Practice was very repetitive and not too exciting," Roald said._

"_Yeah, we kind of settled into a dull pattern," Merric added._

"_Until costuming," Kel said._

"_Oh yeah," Owen added. "That was funny."_

A week before Midwinter began, the pages were in Neal's room, finishing up their book work for the next day. During the evening they were called two at a time for the final fitting of their costumes.

Merric burst into the room and collapsed on the floor in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Kel asked. Merric didn't stop laughing.

"Neal … costume … hilarious," he giggled. When he calmed down, he explained, in great detail, what Neal's costume looked like.

A few minutes later Neal came into the room. The other pages averted their eyes to their books, Kel and Merric concentrating on a difficult math problem, trying to keep straight faces.

"Is that rouge?" Owen asked at last. Neal looked as though he was going to say something snotty, but he stopped mid-thought.

"How do you know what rouge is?"

"_Yeah, how _did_ you know?" Maira asked her father. _

"_I have two little sisters," he said. "Before I went to the palace, they used to like to play 'ball,' and dress up as fancy ladies. _

"My sisters had lots of little containers of face paints and shiny things," Owen explained.

"Say no more," Kel said, holding up a hand.

"Didn't _you_ ever play dress-up?" Owen asked.

"Of course I did. _I'm_ a girl."

"Oh," Owen said, dejectedly.

"So Neal," Roald asked, "How is your costume?"

"I'm not telling." Neal shoved the bundle he held into his little dressing room and closed the door.

"If you think I'm going to make Lalasa press that the day of the play, you're mistaken," Kel said.

"I'll hang it up later," Neal mumbled, wiping at his face with his sleeve, which was now turning from white to pink.

"Hang it up now," Kel said pointedly, turning back to the algebra problem.

"Yes, Mother," Neal drawled. Then he stuck his tongue out at her back.

"I saw that," Kel announced, without taking her eyes off of her work.

"_Mama, have you and Uncle Neal have always been close?" Bess asked._

"_Mmm-hmm," Kel said. "Although I can't imagine why."_

_Neal, who was behind Kel's chair at the buffet table stuck his tongue out at her, just as he had all those years ago. And just as Kel had done, she said_

"_I saw that."_

"_Our dress rehearsal was miserable," Cleon said._

"_Lord Adente was stressed out, He kept barking orders at us. Nothing anybody did was right," Kel said._

"_Except for dear, sweet Clara," Neal said. "Lord Adente sure did play favorites."_

"Queenscove!" Lord Adente yelled. "How many times must I tell you, the Sugar-Plum fairy would not be casting dirty looks at the Flowers of the Kingdom!"

"Joren and I were just having a philosophical discussion," Neal argued.

"I do not care what Joren of Stone Mountain did; we are discussing _your_ behavior. Now, I want you to repeat your warm-up exercises thirty-two times in that corner," the dance instructor said, pointing behind him.

"Yes, Sir," Neal said, mimicking the man's accent. With a curtsy he retreated to the far left corner.

Kel ducked, her head barely missing Owen's foot. She sighed, wishing that all the practicing had paid off a little bit more for poor Owen. She just hoped that his sisters wouldn't tease him too badly.

"Hollyrose!" Adente shouted.

"Yes, sir?" Merric answered, scowling.

"How do you manage to stand without toppling over? If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, posture is key. You should take lessons from young Jesslaw here. I'll bet he could walk with an entire tea tray on his head _without losing a single piece_."

"Too late for that," Merric mumbled. "He's done lost all his pieces."

"For your insolence you may join Queenscove in the corner."

"Hello, fellow inmate!" Neal called cheerfully.

"Silence!"

"Yes Warden," Neal mumbled under his breath.

"Gentlemen, we are two days away from our performance, and I've yet to see much improvement. Do you want to shame yourselves before your families and worse, the King?"

"Again, too late for that," Merric said.

"Not another word!" Adente bellowed. Then he noticed the other pages looking on. "Return to your practicing. One, and two, three, and four…"

"_Oh my," Nora said. _

"_Painful to hear, isn't it?" Kel said._

"_Just consider yourselves lucky," Lord Raoul said. "_You_ didn't have to _watch _it…"_


End file.
